Opening times

It is staffed by our fully trained volunteers. Outside these times you can leave a message on the 24 hour answer phone and a member of our helpline team will return your call as soon as possible (usually during helpline opening times).

If you would like us to call you, you can leave a message letting us know when would be most convenient for us to call and whether or not we can leave a message on your mobile or landline.

If you change your mind

If you change your mind after you have called us and don’t want to carry on talking that’s fine; you can end the call at any time. You can call back at any time, even if you didn’t speak the first time you called. Sometimes it takes a few calls before you’re ready to talk. You can call us for support as many times as you need to.

Email support

We will be offering email support soon for anyone who would like to contact us by email instead of speaking on the phone.

Male Survivors

If you are a man or boy that has experienced rape or sexual abuse, we can support you.

A safe space in which to explore your experiences and feelings, in your own time and way.

I feel like I have made a lot of progress. I think I can have the courage to prioritise my feelings over the expectations of others, and respect and look after myself. I feel so much better about everything.”

— Former counselling client

If you would like counselling

If you would like to receive counselling from us, you can fill in the form below (purple Counselling Request Form button), or call the helpline (0808 802 0013) to arrange this. After you have sent us the form or called our Helpline we post out a registration form for you to fill out and send back to us. We will send you a stamped addressed envelope for you to send the form to us. As soon as we get the form back from you we will start arranging your counselling. You will be asked to come in for a face to face Counselling Assessment session with one of our Counsellors. This meeting usually lasts for about an hour and a half.

Counselling is a safe space in which to explore your experiences and feelings, in your own time and way. At your assessment it will be agreed how may sessions you will be offered, based on your needs. We offer up to 20 sessions.

I was listened to, taken seriously, allowed to see that what happened was not my fault, and I had nothing to be ashamed about.

— Former counselling client

How Counselling works

Counselling is a chance to be heard, and to talk about what has happened to you. Your counsellor will listen to you. You will be supported if you would like to make changes in your life. You will not be told what to do; your counsellor will help you to decide for yourself.

Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA )

Our Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA ) offers a free and confidential specialist service providing practical help and emotional support to anyone 18 years and over who has been raped or sexually assaulted at any time in their lives, whether or not they have chosen to report to the police.

If this has happened to you, you might be struggling to cope. Maybe it feels like no-one understands what you have experienced & how you feel. Maybe you don't want to talk to someone about it, but you know that you need to. We understand how difficult it is to talk about the abuse that you have suffered.

The ISVA can help you to work out what you need to help you move forward from the sexual assault and she will try and help you get the things you need to do that. The ISVA service is about helping you to make informed choices, not about telling you what to do.

The ISVA can :

Give you emotional support

Help you develop ways of coping and

Help you to put together a support network (a group of people or organisations that can give you help and support)

Helping you to understand what choices you have about reporting your incident to the Police

Help you get other specialist support, e.g. counselling, mental health, sexual health, substance and alcohol misuse

Help you communicate with the Police

Give you information and support around the Criminal Justice System (CJS)

Support you through the court process (be there with you ate court etc.)

Just wanted to say thanks for calling round and for working with me... I feel like I can get through it more now than I did before. It’s nice to know someone’s there for me, if and when it goes to court.

-Text message from ISVA client

How you can get the ISVA service:

You can ask for a referral to the service from the Police, NHS or any other agency.